Regenerative medicine: clinical applications of stem cells

There is sometimes confusion about the difference between stem cell medicine and regenerative therapy in considering clinical applications of stem cells. There is a widely held perception that stem cell medicine is the same as (stem) cell therapy, which is actually not the case. While cell therapy (meaning a therapy with cells) is certainly a useful approach to treating some diseases, in others, especially those involving tissue and organs with an inherent regeneration potential, a preferable approach may, in fact, be to pharmacologically activate the natural regeneration process, mediated by adult stem or progenitor cells in the damaged organ itself. This “heal thyself” mechanism may even be part of the reason that some cell therapies work and others do not. To make matters more complicated, articles on potential therapeutic use of stem cells in the popular press often do not explain which of the different stem cell types have been tested in a particular therapy, or, in the case of preclinical research, whether animal or human cells were used. Further, reporting and opinions are sometimes colored by the ethical debate on the use of embryonic versus adult stem cells.